Definitions for valparaiso

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word valparaiso

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:(0.00 / 0 votes)

Valparaiso(noun)

the chief port and second largest city of Chile; located on a wide harbor in central Chile

WiktionaryRate this definition:(0.00 / 0 votes)

Valparaiso(ProperNoun)

A major port city of Chile.

Valparaiso(ProperNoun)

A place name.

FreebaseRate this definition:(0.00 / 0 votes)

Valparaíso

Valparaíso is a city, port, and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation, is located 69.5 miles northwest of Santiago and one of the country's most important seaports; it is an increasingly important cultural center in the Southeast Pacific. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region. Although Santiago is Chile's official capital, the National Congress of Chile was established in Valparaíso in 1990.
Valparaíso played a very important geopolitical role in the second half of the 19th century, when the city served as a major stopover for ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by crossing the Straits of Magellan. Always a magnet for European immigrants, Valparaíso mushroomed during its golden age, when the city was known by international sailors as “Little San Francisco” and “The Jewel of the Pacific.”
Examples of Valparaíso’s former glory include Latin America’s oldest stock exchange, the continent’s first volunteer fire department, Chile’s first public library, and the oldest Spanish language newspaper in continuous publication in the world. The opening of the Panama Canal and reduction in ship traffic dealt a staggering blow to Valparaíso, though the city has staged an impressive renaissance in recent years.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:(0.00 / 0 votes)

Valparaiso

(Vale of Paradise) (150), the second city and chief port in Chile, over 100 m. NW. of Santiago, at the head of a bay which looks N., and where the anchorage is dangerous; is quite a commercial city; exports ores, nitre, wheat, hides, &c., the business affairs of which are largely in the hands of foreigners, chiefly English, American, and Germans; it has been on various occasions visited by severe earthquakes; was bombarded by a Spanish fleet in 1866 and suffered in the Civil War of 1891.